General Motors’ decision to move production of its iconic Chevrolet Camaro from Oshawa to Lansing, Mich., when the next generation of the muscle car goes into production will cost at least 1,000 jobs by 2016, say infuriated leaders of the Canadian Auto Workers’ union.

“This decision by General Motors today quite frankly is a betrayal to Canada as a nation, to the Canadian taxpayers and to workers that need these jobs — not just in the assembly plant but spinoff jobs associated with it,” CAW president Ken Lewenza said at a hastily called news conference in Oshawa following GM’s announcement Wednesday.

The timing of the move ominously coincides with the end of GM’s commitment to maintain 16 per cent of its North American production in Canada, he said. That commitment came after the federal and Ontario governments invested $10.6 billion in the company during its U.S. bankruptcy in 2009.

“Taxpayers of Canada made a substantial investment to keep General Motors competitive and we will hold General Motors to the commitments they made in return for that investment. It is up to General Motors to provide Canadians with an explanation for their decision today, and I expect them to do so,” said federal Industry Minister Christian Paradis.

Ontario Economic Development Minister Brad Duguid said the province expects GM to quickly bring a new product to the Oshawa plant and stand by its commitment to add a third shift to the flexible assembly line that produces the Camaro and other vehicles.

“We will carefully review GM’s obligations and ensure they are accountable for those commitments,” he said.

Losing the Camaro would reduce output at the huge Oshawa plant to a level that could threaten its survival and the CAW will fight to retain the car or have new production brought to the facility, Lewenza said.

The union, which represents just over 4,000 workers at the Oshawa assembly complex, was given no hint during contract negotiations in September or since that GM might make the next Camaro elsewhere, he said.

“Had General Motors informed us that, hey, there’s another plant that possibly could get this Camaro, we would have rolled up our sleeves and said ‘What do we need to do to save those jobs?'” said Chris Buckley, president of CAW Local 222 that represents GM workers in Oshawa.

GM declined to reveal when the next generation Camaro will launch, but CAW officials said the change is expected in late 2015 or early 2016. The union says the 100,000 Camaros that plant pumps out every year represent more than 25 per cent of the vehicles currently assembled in Oshawa.

The next generation Camaro will be built at the Lansing Grand River Assembly Plant, GM Canada spokeswoman Faye Roberts said. “This decision is based on a comprehensive business case. The key factors in this business case were lower capital investment and improved production efficiencies.”

The Camaro is the only rear wheel vehicle currently built in Oshawa, while moving it to Lansing will put it in a plant where two other rear-wheel vehicles, the Cadillac CTS and ATS, are built, she said.

The current model Camaro is built on a flexible assembly line in Oshawa that employs 2,200 workers and also produces the Buick Regal. GM invested $185 million to add production of the recently launched Cadillac XTS and the next generation Chevrolet Impala in early 2013. The line currently produces about 700 vehicles a day. A third shift is being added to the line to support production of the new Impala and is expected to add about 900 jobs.

At the same time, the company plans to close its Oshawa consolidated plant, which currently makes the Equinox and Impala and employs about 750 workers. On top of that, there are 290 CAW members on layoff already, Lewenza said.

In a four-year agreement with the CAW reached in September, GM promised only to continue production of the Camaro in Oshawa until the end of its current generation model life cycle.

Roberts said it is too early for GM to say how moving the Camaro will affect employment in Oshawa, but it will continue to honour its commitment to keeping manufacturing footprint in Canada. GM currently has about 8,000 employees in Canada.

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